I do not believe in gender identity.

[SernieBanders]

There are two sexes: male and female. Occasionally, that matters.

There is no such thing as an innate gender identity—no internal essence that makes someone more inclined to wear dresses and sip wine, or football boots and down pints. Those are cultural stereotypes, not proof of some mystical gendered soul.

The idea of gender identity is sexist, misogynistic, and regressive. It reinforces outdated norms instead of challenging them. Women do not need an inner feeling of womanhood to be women. Men do not need a gender identity to be men. Sex is real. Stereotypes are not.

I hope with the flurry of cultural changes, legal challenges, scientific findings and executive orders in the last ~12 months, more people feel able to stand up and be counted, and say - No More.

I think you're unreasonable.

I think the dresses and pints are not determined by our biological sex.
I think they are determined by something else personal social and cultural.
I think if you insist that anyone wanting to switch teams is against you, you're missing the point.

How does it harm me if people don't know what's in my pants?
How does it harm me if I can wear what I want, without being boxed in by my sex?
How does it harm me if I can pass as a man or a woman depending on what I want?

The people who say that the reason for those freedoms is only to assault others are much more scary to me. Assault is already wrong.
For what it's worth I'm a cis autistic woman.

and this is what some people are uncomfortably aware of and trying to suppress both to themselves and others
it may be different in the US but in the UK the women I know who are vocally anti this mens' rights movement are left wing with long histories of supporting women's rights and other humanitarian/environmental/peace movements
including LGB rights
we were on those marches against section 21 before most of these blue haired kids were born, and I am through with justifying myself to them
yes, a lot of ordinary working class people agree that sex is immutable, because its pure common sense and their brains haven't been addled by theory
AND (if they are women) they are more likely to need the safety of single sex spaces because they can't buy their way out of trouble like many more privileged women can

Two biological sexes male and female. That is it.

Excuse me I have never lost friends or colleagues respect. I have never had a problem voicing my views either. However if friends don't agree with me that's their choice. No one is attacking trans people. And if it isn't about women and their rights what is it about?

That rudeness was completely unnecessary.

The ones that mandate, for example, that half of a board is female. that breaks if a man says he is female

Exactly this, but it's a whole lot easier to smear us all as far-right bigots than it is to address the actual issues.

My 9 year old recognised this. She said ‘why because you want to wear a dress and behave in a certain way does that make you a woman and not a man who wears a dress and acts a certain way?’ Out of the mouths of babes

I also do not believe in gender ideology.

We have occassion to have certain spaces divided by SEX for good & valid reasons. These reasons are still relevant and are likely to remain relevant forever.

Sex is immutable and material - it has an impact on all our lives.

We ALL have an immutable sex.

If you have "gender feelings" your SEX does not change.
If you have operations your sex does not change.
If you take hormones your sex doesn't change.
If you think you can successfully disguise yourself as the opposite sex, your sex does not change.

Our sex NEVER changes.

The erosion of sex divided spaces mostly hams women and girls, and young children.

"Unisex spaces" are proven to increase risk and assaults on women and girls. Unisex spaces see an increase in hidden cameras etc. You could be filmed secretly and be peeing on pornhub for eternity and you will never know.

I don't understand why so many women support gender ideology to the extent that they want it to have priority over sex.

"Gender ideology" elevates sex stereotypes as all important - its a huge backlash as we were doing fairly well for a while in developing an understanding that sex stereotypes harm us all, epsecially women, girls & gay people, but actually everyone. Now these sex stereotypes have been elevated and centered as the most important under gender ideology. Its all in reverse.

I'd love to know how "liberal feminists" square the circle that their support for gender ideology puts men in womens prisons that results in rape and many other harms to some of the most vulnerable women in society.

YANBU. There are two sexes and no-one ever changes theirs. No-one is "assigned" anything at birth; sex is observed and recorded.

Gender is a social construct based on stereotypes and the application of it is inherently misogynistic.

Thinking that this is "transphobia" is laughable.

I'm no expert but I thought most people on either side of the 'trans debate' agree that gender is a social construct. The difference is the approach to finding peace/reconciling feelings of alienation when your sense of self doesn't reflect the boxes society has put you in.

I guess one side would say we focus on changing society so no one feels forced to change themselves to fit the expectation of what is and isn't male and female. The other side thinks society won't change so individuals should do what they have to in order to reconcile their sense of self and society's perception.

Obv there is so much more to the debate than this (body dysmorphia, women's rights and private spaces, etc.), but I think finding common ground is important

Try visiting the Feminism boards

This is frequently discussed

I do.

I think that when societies have rigid and ridiculous gender stereotypes then it leads some people to feel that if they don't fit one box they must belong in the other.

I don't believe people can change biological sex but I do think that when a society has a stupid list of what makes you a woman and what makes you a man then it leaves people confused. We need people to understand the difference between biological sex and societal gender stereotypes. It's when people think the two are the same thing that it goes tits up.

The problem here is gender stereotypes.

What we need is to put them in the bin.

Ok. I "believe" in gender lol and I don't really care that you don't

Yes. It just seems on these type of threads that often gender gets reduced to (external) genitalia. I may be sensitised to it because we’ve had a lot of hate from people who are presuming I have some sort of ‘woke agenda’ in acknowledging my child may not identify the way the genitals they have on the outside would usually mean they identify, and also because before going down this path with them I didn’t really get it myself either. It just feels important to note that sometimes presenting outside of what society deems as ‘normal’ isn’t anything to do with being trans but rather identifying with your actual sex rather than whatever external bits you’ve been dealt. I’ve probably worded that terribly.

Agree.

It's why I refuse to answer questions on forms about my gender. I don't have a gender, inhale a sex. Sometimes it's relevant, many times it isn't.

My vagina doesn't dictate my interest in nail polish, just as a penis doesn't preclude someone from wearing nail polish.

You are almost correct that there are 2 anatomical Sexes. There’s also Intersex (1.7% of humans).
You’re confusing Gender Identity with Gender Conformity, which is participating in a culture’s social construct.
Gender Identity is formed in the brain. It’s part of your psychology, just like the rest of your identity. Who am I to suggest that a part of your identity (your psychology) isn’t real?
The thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe it. Reading scientific literature from reputable scientific sources might give you more credibility when you post about what your personal identity believes. Suggested Reading: https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/making-meaning/202102/understanding-gender-sex-and-gender-identity

But we were making great progress in putting them in the bin with things like the let toys be toys campaign and men expressing themselves in more feminine ways (David Bowie, New Romantics, Goths, etc.) and it was the modern trans movement that did away with all that and decided if you wore a dress and liked ballet you had to be a woman, and not just a man who liked those things.

I know.
We've gone so far backwards in such a short space of time. It's disturbing and I can't help but wonder what's actually driving it.

@taliatalia you absolutely do know what sex your child is and what hormones will be released at puberty.
Do your child a favour and tell them the truth.

that gender has often been conflated as a "nice" word for sex, causes much confusion when talking about this issue.

Gender was largely used as meaning sex.

But now gender and sex have very different meanings - though the older meaning of gender is still in use.

It helps to be aware of this when reading around the subject.

Gender identity very much exists - it's a social construct, girls like pink and sparkly things and are caring and giggly etc and man are stoic leaders who can't show emotion and are strong etc.

Being 'gender critical' isn't about believing there are two sexes, it's about actively working to break down existing gender roles, so that women get the same opportunities as men and aren't expected to take on all the unpaid caring roles, get paid less than men, bear the brunt of cuts to public services, and get killed by male partners at a rate of two a week and nobody bats an eyelid. It's also about tackling the problem of toxic masculinity. That's why right wing conservatives like Trump (the epitome of toxic mascuinity) are NOT gender critical - they are very pro gender - and they are not on the side of women, as can be seen in his cancellation of DEI policies that are in place to help women get those opportunities.

Once again, blame America. Or rather that part of America which will ban a nipple at gunpoint in a metaphor for their obsessions.

In fact, a lot of people with gender identities have a lot in common with Trump in this respect (and probably only this respect, to be fair). They believe in gender stereotypes and enforce them just as hard as some on the alt-right might.